Aquaman (Arthur Curry)
Aquaman begins protecting Boston, where he quickly develops a more positive reputation than his negative public image. He decides to completely abandon Atlantis, choosing instead to pursue a life on land with Mera. The city is attacked by a carnivorous underwater species called The Trench and they fight off the invasion. Many humans are taken captive during the slaughter. His former mentor Stephen Shin is the only man who can help discover their whereabouts, and they visit him for guidance despite Shin having tried to kill Arthur. Descending into the Marianas Trench, they discover the predators dying out and desperately trying to feed their children in the remnants of an Atlantean craft. They save the captives, and Aquaman reluctantly causes the Trench's extinction to prevent further loss of human life. One of the creatures saved is a homeless dog who they decide to take in, calling him Aquadog. The Navy discovers an ancient black box aboard the craft, and Atlantean soldiers assault their base to take it back. Aquaman strands himself in the desert taking their aircraft down during the escape, and receives a centuries-old warning from the device before getting rescued. The Others Later, Aquaman and Mera visit Shin once more to ask him about who sank Atlantis, when suddenly, Ya'Wara, an old friend of Aquaman's, attacks Shin. Mera stops her, and Aquaman prevents Mera and Ya'Wara from fighting each other. Ya'Wara tells Aquaman that Kahina has been killed by Black Manta, who has taken one of the Artifacts of Atlantis. Aquaman and Ya'Wara teleport to Brazil, where they find Kahina's corpse. They discover that Manta has stolen the Seal of Clarity, one of the Atlantean relics. Aquaman and Ya'Wara decide to warn the Others, but they are suddenly attacked by Manta's henchmen. After defeating Manta's hunters, Aquaman and Ya'Wara teleport to Germany, where Another, the Prisoner-of-War, is located. Manta wants to obtain the Prisoner's Manacles of Force, which also are Atlantean relics. After a small chase, Aquaman encounters Manta. As Aquaman meets up with Ya'Wara and the Prisoner, Manta steals Ya'Wara's necklace and escapes. The Others are reunited in the Operative's plane, The Living Room, where the Operative informs them that Manta is planning to steal the seventh relic, the Dead King's Scepter. The Others travel to the Dead King's tomb to stop Manta. Aquaman, Mera and the Others fight Manta and his forces, who have kidnapped Dr. Shin. Vostok dies protecting Aquaman from Manta's attack. Aquaman and his allies track Manta down as he is delivering the scepter to an Atlantean stranger, who Aquaman believes to be Orm. Although Aquaman defeats Manta, the stranger escapes with the scepter. Throne of Atlantis Aquaman believes Orm was the one behind the Atlantean black box theft and Black Manta's acitivities. Orm denies any involvement and wishes happiness to Arthur. Later, a missile test conducted by the U.S. Army goes wrong and the missiles are detonated near Atlantis. Later, a tsunami strikes the United States East Seaboard. The Justice League intervenes to prevent casualties and Aquaman tells Batman that Atlantis has declared war on the surface world. Aquaman, Mera and Batman work together to rescue victims when a tidal wave hits Gotham City. As they travel to meet up with the Justice League, Aquaman and Batman discuss Orm's plans to invade the surface world. As the Justice League gathers, Aquaman wants to stop the attack peacefully, but Orm appears on the coast. Conflicted between his loyalties to the Justice League and Atlantis, Aquaman wants both sides to stand down but Orm orders his forces to attack. Orm imprisons the Justice League in pods and vanishes them to the ocean floor. With the help of Cyborg and Mera, the Justice League escapes and returns to the surface. As he talks with Cyborg, Aquaman realizes Orm is not responsible for the missile attack on Atlantis and someone else started the war. Aquaman and the Justice League discover Vulko was the one who started the war in the first place. After Aquaman left Atlantis, Vulko was exiled and now wants revenge. Aquaman and the Justice League return to Boston and engage Orm and his forces. As the two brothers come to blows, Aquaman attempts to reason with Orm, saying that Vulko was responsible for the attack on Atlantis. Orm refuses to stand down, forcing Aquaman to becoming the king of Atlantis once more. In that moment, the Trench begin attacking both sides. Using the scepter of the Dead King, Aquaman sends the creatures back into the ocean, ending the war. Aquaman also orders the arrests of both Vulko and Orm. Knowing he must fulfill his responsibilities as king, Aquaman must return to Atlantis, asking Mera to come with him, but she is unsure. By becoming king, Aquaman tries maintain peace between the surface and Atlantis, and talks with Amanda Waller about humans smuggling Atlantean technology. Return of the King Aquaman and his soldiers mount operations all over the world to recover stolen Atlantean technology from human smugglers and bring the smugglers to justice. Talking with the captured Vulko, Aquaman discovers one of these smugglers is the Scavenger, an old enemy Aquaman had thought dead. Searching for the Scavenger, Aquaman and his forces find his submarine, but the Scavenger has already left. Inside, they find an injured Atlantean, so Aquaman orders the man to be taken home. After taking the injured Atlantean to the medical bay, Aquaman recieves news that Mera has disappeared inside the Bermuda Triangle. He travels to the Bermuda Triangle and reaches the kingdom of Xebel, Mera's homeland. There, he comes face to face with the Dead King, who has imprisoned the entire city on ice. Aquaman frees Mera from the ice and they fight the Dead King together, but the Dead King orders the people of Xebel to fight for him. The Dead King reveals that Aquaman is not his descendant; the truth is that Aquaman's ancestors killed the Dead King's family. As the Dead King takes Aquaman's trident, Aquaman and Mera escape back to Atlantis and find the city is under attack by the Scavenger's fleet. Aquaman summons Topo, a massive underwater creature, to destroy the Scavenger's forces but the strain of controlling Topo causes him to pass out just as the Dead King arrives at Atlantis. Growing a beard, Aquaman awakens six months later under Vulko's care in Antarctica. Vulko takes Arthur to an underground chamber in Antarctica that reveals the Dead King's entire story. His name was Atlan, and his was the first king of Atlantis, but his brother Orin betrayed him and took the throne of Atlantis for himself. Atlan used the trident to sink Atlantis into the ocean. Aquaman learns that he and his family actually descended from Orin, Atlan's brother. Using the scepter, Arthur commands the Trench to liberate Atlantis and rescue Mera and any Atlanteans loyal to him. After a lengthy brawl, Arthur kills the Dead King and destroys the scepter, being acknowledged as the king of Atlantis once again. After shaving his beard, Aquaman and Mera choose to keep leading Atlantis and fighting to maintain peace between sea and land. Remnants of the Past As Aquaman and Mera are saving a crew of their Atlantean Engineers as they're caught in the maelstrom of a lava vent during eruption, they're told that a the new fissure had formed overnight opening up much faster than they normally do when Aquaman though it was a geothermic pipeline failure. As the Royal Form that he was currently missing due to his oceanic rescue, a few council memebrs were grumbling and groaning just before Arthur's fashionably late arrival. After overhearing from Councilwoman Marga's testimony about how Atlantean's naturally hated the Xebellians before they invaded and wish that Arthur would spend more time in his kingdom than the surface, the Coastal Warning Alarm system goes off near Reykjavik; Iceland's Coast Where a massive seabeast is wreaking havoc. As He and Mera try the untested pressure launch technique; where Queen Mera launches him into the stratosphere from the deep basin; Aquaman is jettisoned into the sky only to come back down as he views a colossal large enough to be seen from miles in the air tearing through a harbor while it engages the country's air force, slamming hard into its crustacean shell. As he contineus to trade blows with the Karaqan, an ancient Atlantis guard beast that once served the royal family, Aquaman tries to make telepathic contact with it only to end up viewing and experience it's ancient memories. While he failed to subdue the beast with his Aquatic telepathy, it stops all the same as he swims around din its mind, viewing ancient Atlantis before the once great continent sank beneath the waves. When Arthur breaks telepathic contact with it however it goes back on it's feeding frenzy, as he tries to stop it he ends up crushed underfoot beneath the behemoth suffering a major concussion and having a flashback of his dad. When he awakes he is handed back his Trident by a bystander and Aquaman resumes battle with the legendary protector, when he finally discerns it's weak point Aquaman jab's his trident into it's shell and smashes it in like a nail with an iron girder piercing its frontal lobe. As the creature falls dead his faithful wife comes to his side noting how members of his elite guard found great displeasure at how his majesty defiled their favored myth. As the good king samples more of its memories from the beasts dying brain the creature begins to disperse into a massive ball of fire, Neol Explained that when creatures such as these die they release all of their pent up heat from the inside out melting themselves to nothing. Not long after these events Aquaman is greeted and thanked by the grateful citizens upon the boats that massive Leviathan nearly consumed or crushed however does Arthur sense a still intact piece of it's brain still on the move, taken by researchers of Triton base. As he and his acolytes follow the flotsam pieces brainwaves back, they come across a man made sea albatross set up in their ocean. There Aquaman is notified that a deep diver is getting mauled by a gang of frenzied sharks but as he makes his way to rescue him he is attacked by Torpedoes launched at him from the research center base. After rescuing his half eaten quarry Aquaman rushes him into the base after he is invited in, where he is greeted by Dr. Shin who is a lead researcher brought on-board there due to his knowledge of Atlantis and it's culture. He was also warned by its commander that not every inch of the ocean was under direct jurisdiction of Aquaman and had forced the latter to leave when he threatened his crew upon the submarine with a torpedo strike. After making it back topside to their Lighthouse abode Arthur and Mera are met by Officer Watson who cordially invites the duo to an old High-school reunion. While initially hesitant to go due to an altercation he had with a beached whale when his Marine Telepathy first kicked in and sensed it's memories, as well as felt its pain when a classmate scratched his name into it's hide and ended up socked by a young Arthur just as his Super-Atlantean strength kicked in putting him in a coma for weeks. After some coaxing he finally turns up at the reunion meeting several old faces, many of whom are somewhat uneasy while others are happy to see him again. While other of his high school days were a little put off by him now that he was the king of the sea and others a bit miffed at him for vanishing on them when the world discovered who and what he was. A few of them who he had secretly helped in the past during his tenure as a guardian angel of the deep came up to compare notes, such as when Mike Tillman commented on who save him and his boating party during a storm, or a ruined french galleon with a load of passengers stuck on it had mysteriously washed back onto shore and like when an old flame mentioned to Arthur's fiance that he would bring her authentic seashells. Having Put his worries to rest Arthur was finally able to enjoy himself at the shinding not knowing that a personal keepsake had been taken from his home by a wayward Archaeologist. Quest against the Giant born Arthur eventually tracked down the researcher all the way back to The Azores where Daniel Evans had taken the trident as an integral part of an excavation he has been detailing relating to ancient Atlantis. By the time of his arrival on scene however, The unsuspecting spelunker had used the portal incorrectly unleashing the dreaded Giant Born upon the world whom which after having been set free recognized Aquaman's costumes atlantean royal symbol; surmising he is a decedent of the ancient kings who once imprisoned them. Arthur manege's to hold his own against the ancient titan offspring until their Leader pulled out the trump card of their ranks, though not a Giant Born like the others, but once upon a time was this legendary hero who fought to seal them all away in the infernal dimension he helped trap them in. Arthur had to do battle with an infamous Demi-God of legend Hercules, now maddened by his time locked away with horrible abominoids they're eldest having twisted his mind beyond compare.Arthur was forced to drive the lion of Olympus back through the portal after failing to reason that he was once a hero only instead of the hell realm he escaped from to a legendary labyrinth, vowing to one day help him reclaim his life and sanity. Shortly after the harsh battle Wonder Woman communed with him about the business with her half-brother and the Eldritch threat that escaped their confines, worried about what'll happen next both she and AC set out to find and deal with these ancient monstrosities tied to both their family histories. Past mistakes Before more study could be enacted upon the portal that had unleashed the ancient effigy's upon the very earth. Arthur had to see a man about an incident involving sea algae. Enlisting the help of Ya'Wara and her Globe of Transportation, they soon found their way to Terrenbone Perish, Louisiana where they confronted Swamp Thing over an incident he caused that has yet to cease functioning, After pausing to check on said phenomenon Alec simply vacates a massive plant life construct he was animating to see what was going on. Having concluded his business Aquaman asked batman for a ride back to Atlantis and was thoroughly perturbed how close Bruce's coordinates of the hidden city were on the money. On his way back home however he was attacked by a host of hostile marine life which he could not exert his control over for some reason, The reason being another marine telepath by the name of Chimera had intercepted him and was interfering with his control over the sealife; intent on making the king of the sea another part of his being. A grueling battle in the deep sea takes place between Arthur and the assailant he's encountered, the very aquatic element turned against him as The Chimera turns them on their former lord. Soon after merging with his mind and peering through Arthur's memories a feedback resounds causing their minds to split, leaving a dazed Aquaman to recover as a scouting patrol picks him up. After hearing about a sect of conspirators who attempted to assassinate his wife, Aquaman interrupts with disturbing news as to the identity of is attacker. It being the same diver who he saved back at the Triton Base from those hungry sharks. Before that however, there were talks about how his return and coming to the throne would eventually cause disaster after long dormant tremors began asserting themselves; Just then a report comes in saying said base had been torn apart and left to sink from the inside out, information about some sort of monster ripping through the crew and destroying the entire base foundations and all. But there was one survivor left amongst the wreckage and had been expediently taken to a naval hospital topside. After making arrangements Arthur left for the surface to meet up with the ailing Stephen Shin to talk about their mutual problem. After sharing notes, Arthur learned that Chimera was the scientific breakthrough of all the undersea base's accumlated knowledge garnered from sensitive study of Atlantean lore and aquatic testing. The pinnacle of which being the acquired brain tissue sample from the Karaqan Arthur had slain a while back, but even Shin didn't know how the creature would turn out with said grey matter graft implemented into it and neither did its creator, since he intended to implant a cerebral unit to control its mind beforehand. But he was killed before he ever got the chance, Shin went onto say that the reason they both blacked out when it made telepathic contact with his mind is because the skin graft of the sea beast was still loyal to the previous king somewhere in its inbred consciousness, and that he/it was drawn to Arthur and will continually seek him out. As they continued however, Coombs had found his way onto the barge and attacked Arthur again. On the defensive from parrying The Chimera's Acid, Arthur tackles the beast knocking him clear out of Dr. Stephen Shins bedding room. Dragging him into the ocean where Chimera reveals to him a host of new attributes to it's physiology, seeing as aquatic warfare would backfire on him Aquaman dragged the conflict up onto dry land where he would eventually toss him up onto an oncoming gas tanker truck. Having camouflaged itself Chimera blindsides Arthur and probes his mind again onluy to confirm why it cant assimilate him, due to the piece of the Karaqan bits servitor tendencies inhibiting his control due to AC's royal lineage. The flow works both ways however as Arthur could also see into the Coombs/Chimera's veil of his former self, deducing that his trauma had turned him into the very thing that nearly destroyed him. Backtracking again into his won memories, Chimera sees how successful Arthur is as a king with a beautiful and powerful wife at his side, yet is dissatisfied with the throne due to insecurities about his leadership pertaining to his surface dweller background and many of his followers fearing he'll bring disaster to his own kingdom. Having grown fed up with his intrusion, Aquaman knocks Chimera away trying to prolong his dehydration hoping to weaken him, when that fails seeing as the tables were about to be turned again he launches him at a ruptured petroleum tank where the bug zapper Chimera used to dry him out caused it to light up. Creating a massive explosion he was caught in with no sign of his adversary Aquaman stopped to help fix the damages caused. Maelstrom: The Search for Family Back in his undersea abode the good king had taken time to reflect upon his life and came to a decision to let Shin and Evans aboard an imperial flag ship to tour and study Atlantis's rich history. Coming to grips with the fact that his lack of understanding is causing great turmoil within his own kingdom and needs the help of experts who can decipher his home nations ancient history. But before any secrets to holding the keys of said kingdom could be discovered Arthur had finally decided upon a fitting punishment for those who attempted a coup against his beloved wife. Initially moved by the council to execute them as enemies to the crown, Arthur simply shunted them far up above the ocean to the surface world atop an atlantean naval ship where he exiled them to an undisclosed location near the antarctic; located over a sizable lava vent and sink said vessal to act as their new home and housing. Where there, they would be free of his rule and his beloved's presence to make a new life for themselves to create their own society separate from Arthur's rule and lordship. On The Run & The Other Atlantis | Powers = * : Like most Atlanteans, Arthur Curry is an offshoot homosapian who is biologically adapted to the deep ocean environment. For most Atlanteans, this means they can breathe underwater, endure the pressures of the deep (among other adaptations), and can only spend a very limited time out of water. However due to either Aquaman's chimeric nature or his heritage to royal blood, he possesses a number traits other's of his mother's side of the species do not, for instance while he shares many of their faults he can spend an elongated time out of the water with little ill effect and is shown to be 20-50 times stronger, faster, tougher and more or less tireless compared to others of his race. Also akin to other Merefolk is his ability to not only function indefinitely within water but can easily withstand the crushing depths of the ocean deep as well as harsh natures of the sea itself. Making Arthur among other things a super-Atlantean as well as super-human. ** : Tough enough to resist small arms fire with minor injury, the teeth of most trench dwellers break on his body, surviving an RPG blowing in his face and thrive in the darkest deepest bowls of the ocean deep suffering no discomfort. He can even live through falling back to earth after being launched into orbit by Mera, coming back down hard on top of a sea monsters head, without injury. *** : Having taken and lived through multiple energy blasts in the past and been flash frozen by the dead kings ice magic. His ultimate resilience is tested when he dipped into an open lava bed beneath the sea and emerged unscathed. ** : Aquaman is able to function much longer than any human, without tiring or becoming weak. ** : Aquaman's senses are several times more acute than human capacity, once even hearing a police siren from several miles away. ** : Aquaman's reflexes are heightened to levels far beyond that of any human. ** : Arthur is phenomenally fast be it while running or swimming, in the sea he's able to outrace a spy plane owned by The Operative which can travel up to speeds of Mach 5. ** : Aquaman's super Atlantean status enables him to bench insurmountable amounts of weight, towing around fishing boats while tidal waves were crashing down upon them. To knocking the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman several dozen feet away with singular blows, lifting a 160000 ton Sea Liner barehanded and as well as taking a sunken cargo ship and chucking it at the dead king. Some of his greatest feats of might however preclude pushing a tectonic plate over the entrance to the trench's lair, the heft of which is roughly 4.0678242e+22 kg. or 44 quintillion metric tons. To matching the legendary Hercules blow for blow. *** : Aquaman can make use of his powerful bodily muscles to launch himself into the air either from jumping on and off land or propelling himself out of open water like a torpedo. ** : Aquaman doesn't actually talk to fish or other seaborn fauna, but can redirect the thought processes of their brains to compel them into helping him when he needs it. He is capable of sending out world wide telepathic broadcasts if and when necessary. He can also with great difficulty assume control over the mind of the great sea Leviathan Topo but with extreme levels of difficulty as the stress of such an act left him comatose for six months. it seems he has gotten a better control over his power as commanding topo to sunder a dreadnought from Thule wasn't as difficult as it used to be. * : After receiving the blessing and trident from the Olympian God of the seas, Poseidon, Aquaman gain various mystical powers. ** : Aquaman states control over the storm, rain, wind, thunder, and lightning was bestowed upon him. *** : Aquaman is capable of summoning bolts of lightning from his trident. **** : Aquaman can project powerful bolts and arcs of electricity from his trident. *** : Through both his blessings and the Trident given to him, Arthur is able to bend and manipulate water around himself for various purposes. **** : With an extent water source, Arthur can teleport global-interplanetary distances at will. *** : Aquaman was able to use his trident to summon large icicles from the ground, and freeze an Atlantian by grabbing him. **'Thule Magic Resilience': With the blessing he received from Poseidon, Aquaman was granted a degree of defense against magic, most prominently the magic of Thule users. ***'Bane Field Manipulation': Even before receiving Poseidon's gifts Arthur showed a limited capacity to bend the poisonous aura of Thule realm structures. ** : By Poseidon's blessings, Arthur can fly unaided. | Abilities = * * * | Strength = | Weaknesses = * Water Deprivation: Aquaman must return to water after a period of time or he will weaken. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = ]] ]] * Trident of Neptune: Forged by Atlan using enchanted gold; first king of Atlantis, the trident of Neptune serves as a symbolism of the royal line. Arthur wields as both his right to rule and as a lethal weapon that can pierce mystical fortitude's and draw blood from New Gods like Darksied. He eventually lost this trishul when the villainous Siren posing as Mera usurped his leadership and kingdom but has since regained it. * Trident of Poseidon: A divine blessing bestowed unto him by it's previous wielder Poseidon. The trident given to Arthur, blessing him with host of mystical powers and enchantments; as a means to help him battle the invading force known as the Thule. He eventually sacrificed it in order to destroy the encroachment of dimensions, but has been lent a replacement by the gods since then. | Notes = * Aquaman was created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris, originally appearing in the 1941 issue . The version of Aquaman seen in Prime Earth continuity was created by Geoff Johns, originally published in as part of The New 52. * appears as Aquaman (Prime) a playable character in the Infinite Crisis video game. | Trivia = | Recommended = * * * | Links = }}